The Dravidians Lecture 1

Overview of Indian Culture & The Origins of Indian Philosophy

indigenous people of the Indian subcontinent civilization probably began circa 3000 BCE in lower Indus River Valley (Pakistan) eventually spread to about 1/3 of presentday India

The Aryans
The Aryans arrived in India circa 1500 BCE Came from Europe / southern Russia Described themselves as tall, fair-skinned, blond-haired, and civilized

The Aryans: Advantages

Civilization? War technology (esp. horse-drawn chariots)

The Aryans: Innovations

Sanskrit
aryan = one who knows lifes value

The Vedas
vedas = "body of knowledge" Key Theme: symbiotic relationship between gods and humans

Caste System
brahmins = priestly class

Rig Veda
Oldest of the Vedas (circa 1500 BCE) Perhaps oldest text in an Indoeuropean language Excerpt: Hymn of Origins (10.129) Verse 1: What is the absolute beginning?
1. There was neither non-existence nor existence then; there was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond. What stirred? Where? In whose protection? Was there water, bottomlessly deep?

Rig Veda
Verse 2: The absolute beginning is a primordial oneness called THAT ONE
cannot be described in language
2. There was neither death nor immortality then. There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day. THAT ONE breathed, windless, by its own impulse. Other than that there was nothing beyond.

NB: Contradicts creation ex nihilo

Rig Veda
Verse 3: There is a lack of differentiation in this primordial wholeness.
3. Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning; with no distinguishable sign, all this was water. That life force was covered with emptiness, THAT ONE arose through the power of heat.

Rig Veda
4. Desire came upon THAT ONE in the beginning; that was the first seed of mind. Poets seeking in their heart with wisdom found the bond of existence in nonexistence. Their cord was extended across. 5. Was there below? Was there above? There were seedplacers; there were powers. There was impulse beneath; there was giving-forth above.

Rig Veda
6. Who really knows? Who here can say? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of the universe. Who then knows whence it has arisen? 7. Whence this creation has arisen. Perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not. The one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only He knows -- or perhaps He does not know.

The Upanishads
Written by Brahmins dissatisfied with the thisworldly focus of Vedas Recorded between 1000 BCE and 500 BCE Contains more insights from native Dravidians upanishads = a sitting instruction at the feet of a master
Of what use is the Rig Veda to one who does not know the Spirit from whom the Rig Veda comes, and in whom all things abide? For only those who have found him have found peace. - Svetasvatara Upanishad

Vedas vs. Upanishads

Vedas focus on ritual practices Reflective questioning, but no definite answers Claims asserted without argument Upanishads focus on inner experience Attempt to explain fundamental principles of existence Attempt to provide reasons for claims

General Characteristics
1. Emphasis on introspective analysis
Not through much learning is the Atman reached, not through the intellect and sacred teaching. - Katha Upanishad He comes to the thought of those who know him beyond thought: he is unknown to the learned and known to the simple. - Kena Upanishad

General Characteristics
2. Emphasis on ignorance as the key to other problems.
We are prevented from experiencing ultimate reality (THAT ONE) due to our ignorance of what ultimate reality is
Abiding in the midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned, fools go aimlessly hither and thither, the blind led by the blind. - Katha Upanishad Those who know him who is greater than all, beyond form and beyond pain, attain immortality: those who know not go to the worlds of sorrow. - Svetasvatara Upan.

General Characteristics
3. Emphasis on practices for gaining knowledge.
Yogic practices are designed to clear the mind, support a state of serene and detached awareness
With upright body, head, and neck lead the mind and its powers into thy heart; and the OM of Brahman will then be thy boat with which to cross the rivers of dear. And when thy body is in silent steadiness, breathe rhythmically through the nostrils with a peaceful ebbing and flowing of breath. The chariot of the mind is drawn by wild horses, and those wild horses have to be trained. - Svetasvatara Upan.

General Characteristics
4. Strong devotional faith tradition
bhakti yoga = intense devotion to a personal manifestation of Brahman (Statue of Shiva in meditation at Bangalore)

General Characteristics
5. Sharply analytical: technical terms, arguments and rules of logic, adversarial rhetoric 6. Primary emphasis on epistemological and metaphysical issues
Secondary emphasis on ethics Least emphasis of all on aesthetics, politics, social philosophy

General Characteristics
7. Tendency toward a two-layered view of reality
world of sensory appearances (maya) vs. world of true reality
We should consider that in the inner world Brahman is consciousness; and we should consider that in the outer world Brahman is space. - Chandogya Upanishad

Note about Reading

Primary texts are scaffolding, not the building itself. The texts do not make sense without the requisite background knowledge.

Reading for Next Time

The Upanishads
Katha Upanishad: 55-66 Mandukya Upanishad: 83-85 Optional: Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad: 127-132